Measure for Measure

Please see the bottom of the page for explanatory notes and related resources.

ACT IV SCENE II	A room in the prison.
	Enter Provost and POMPEY.
Provost	Come hither, sirrah. Can you cut off a man's head?
POMPEY	If the man be a bachelor, sir, I can; but if he be a
	married man, he's his wife's head, and I can never
	cut off a woman's head.
Provost	Come, sir, leave me your snatches, and yield me a	6
	direct answer. To-morrow morning are to die Claudio
	and Barnardine. Here is in our prison a common
	executioner, who in his office lacks a helper: if
	you will take it on you to assist him, it shall
	redeem you from your gyves; if not, you shall have
	your full time of imprisonment and your deliverance
	with an unpitied whipping, for you have been a
	notorious bawd.	13
POMPEY	Sir, I have been an unlawful bawd time out of mind;
	but yet I will be content to be a lawful hangman. I
	would be glad to receive some instruction from my
	fellow partner.
Provost	What, ho! Abhorson! Where's Abhorson, there?
	Enter ABHORSON.
ABHORSON	Do you call, sir?
Provost	Sirrah, here's a fellow will help you to-morrow in
	your execution. If you think it meet, compound with
	him by the year, and let him abide here with you; if
	not, use him for the present and dismiss him. He
	cannot plead his estimation with you; he hath been a bawd.	24
ABHORSON	A bawd, sir? fie upon him! he will discredit our mystery.
Provost	Go to, sir; you weigh equally; a feather will turn
	the scale.
	Exit
POMPEY	Pray, sir, by your good favour,--for surely, sir, a
	good favour you have, but that you have a hanging
	look,--do you call, sir, your occupation a mystery?	31
ABHORSON	Ay, sir; a mystery
POMPEY	Painting, sir, I have heard say, is a mystery; and
	your whores, sir, being members of my occupation,
	using painting, do prove my occupation a mystery:
	but what mystery there should be in hanging, if I
	should be hanged, I cannot imagine.
ABHORSON	Sir, it is a mystery.
POMPEY	Proof?
ABHORSON	Every true man's apparel fits your thief: if it be	40
	too little for your thief, your true man thinks it
	big enough; if it be too big for your thief, your
	thief thinks it little enough: so every true man's
	apparel fits your thief.
	Re-enter Provost
Provost	Are you agreed?
POMPEY	Sir, I will serve him; for I do find your hangman is
	a more penitent trade than your bawd; he doth
	oftener ask forgiveness.
Provost	You, sirrah, provide your block and your axe
	to-morrow four o'clock.
ABHORSON	Come on, bawd; I will instruct thee in my trade; follow.		51
POMPEY	I do desire to learn, sir: and I hope, if you have
	occasion to use me for your own turn, you shall find
	me yare; for truly, sir, for your kindness I owe you
	a good turn.
Provost	Call hither Barnardine and Claudio:
	Exeunt POMPEY and ABHORSON.
	The one has my pity; not a jot the other,
	Being a murderer, though he were my brother.
	Enter CLAUDIO.
	Look, here's the warrant, Claudio, for thy death:
	'Tis now dead midnight, and by eight to-morrow
	Thou must be made immortal. Where's Barnardine?	60
CLAUDIO	As fast lock'd up in sleep as guiltless labour
	When it lies starkly in the traveller's bones:
	He will not wake.
Provost	Who can do good on him?
	Well, go, prepare yourself.
	Knocking within.
	But, hark, what noise?
	Heaven give your spirits comfort!
	Exit CLAUDIO.
	By and by.
	I hope it is some pardon or reprieve
	For the most gentle Claudio.
	Enter DUKE VINCENTIO disguised as before.
	Welcome father.
DUKE VINCENTIO	The best and wholesomest spirts of the night
	Envelope you, good Provost! Who call'd here of late?
Provost	None, since the curfew rung.	70
DUKE VINCENTIO	Not Isabel?
Provost	No.
DUKE VINCENTIO	They will, then, ere't be long.
Provost	What comfort is for Claudio?
DUKE VINCENTIO	There's some in hope.
Provost	It is a bitter deputy.
DUKE VINCENTIO	Not so, not so; his life is parallel'd
	Even with the stroke and line of his great justice:
	He doth with holy abstinence subdue
	That in himself which he spurs on his power
	To qualify in others: were he meal'd with that
	Which he corrects, then were he tyrannous;
	But this being so, he's just.
	Knocking within.
	Now are they come.
	Exit Provost
	This is a gentle provost: seldom when	81
	The steeled gaoler is the friend of men.
	Knocking within
	How now! what noise? That spirit's possessed with haste
	That wounds the unsisting postern with these strokes.
	Re-enter Provost.
Provost	There he must stay until the officer
	Arise to let him in: he is call'd up.
DUKE VINCENTIO	Have you no countermand for Claudio yet,
	But he must die to-morrow?
Provost	None, sir, none.
DUKE VINCENTIO	As near the dawning, provost, as it is,
	You shall hear more ere morning.
Provost	Happily	90
	You something know; yet I believe there comes
	No countermand; no such example have we:
	Besides, upon the very siege of justice
	Lord Angelo hath to the public ear
	Profess'd the contrary.
	Enter a Messenger.
	This is his lordship's man.
DUKE VINCENTIO	And here comes Claudio's pardon.
Messenger	Giving a paper.
	My lord hath sent you this note; and by me this
	further charge, that you swerve not from the
	smallest article of it, neither in time, matter, or
	other circumstance. Good morrow; for, as I take it,
	it is almost day.	100
Provost	I shall obey him.
	Exit Messenger.
DUKE VINCENTIO	Aside. This is his pardon, purchas'd by such sin
	For which the pardoner himself is in.
	Hence hath offence his quick celerity,
	When it is born in high authority:
	When vice makes mercy, mercy's so extended,
	That for the fault's love is the offender friended.
	Now, sir, what news?
Provost	I told you. Lord Angelo, belike thinking me remiss
	in mine office, awakens me with this unwonted
	putting-on; methinks strangely, for he hath not used it before.	112
DUKE VINCENTIO	Pray you, let's hear.
Provost	Reads.
	'Whatsoever you may hear to the contrary, let
	Claudio be executed by four of the clock; and in the
	afternoon Barnardine: for my better satisfaction,
	let me have Claudio's head sent me by five. Let
	this be duly performed; with a thought that more
	depends on it than we must yet deliver. Thus fail
	not to do your office, as you will answer it at your peril.'	120
	What say you to this, sir?
DUKE VINCENTIO	What is that Barnardine who is to be executed in the
	afternoon?
Provost	A Bohemian born, but here nursed un and bred; one
	that is a prisoner nine years old.
DUKE VINCENTIO	How came it that the absent duke had not either
	delivered him to his liberty or executed him? I
	have heard it was ever his manner to do so.
Provost	His friends still wrought reprieves for him: and,
	indeed, his fact, till now in the government of Lord
	Angelo, came not to an undoubtful proof.	131
DUKE VINCENTIO	It is now apparent?
Provost	Most manifest, and not denied by himself.
DUKE VINCENTIO	Hath he born himself penitently in prison? how
	seems he to be touched?
Provost	A man that apprehends death no more dreadfully but
	as a drunken sleep; careless, reckless, and fearless
	of what's past, present, or to come; insensible of
	mortality, and desperately mortal.
DUKE VINCENTIO	He wants advice.	140
Provost	He will hear none: he hath evermore had the liberty
	of the prison; give him leave to escape hence, he
	would not: drunk many times a day, if not many days
	entirely drunk. We have very oft awaked him, as if
	to carry him to execution, and showed him a seeming
	warrant for it: it hath not moved him at all.
DUKE VINCENTIO	More of him anon. There is written in your brow,
	provost, honesty and constancy: if I read it not
	truly, my ancient skill beguiles me; but, in the
	boldness of my cunning, I will lay myself in hazard.
	Claudio, whom here you have warrant to execute, is
	no greater forfeit to the law than Angelo who hath
	sentenced him. To make you understand this in a
	manifested effect, I crave but four days' respite;
	for the which you are to do me both a present and a
	dangerous courtesy.
Provost	Pray, sir, in what?
DUKE VINCENTIO	In the delaying death.
Provost	A lack, how may I do it, having the hour limited,
	and an express command, under penalty, to deliver
	his head in the view of Angelo? I may make my case
	as Claudio's, to cross this in the smallest.	161
DUKE VINCENTIO	By the vow of mine order I warrant you, if my
	instructions may be your guide. Let this Barnardine
	be this morning executed, and his head born to Angelo.
Provost	Angelo hath seen them both, and will discover the favour.
DUKE VINCENTIO	O, death's a great disguiser; and you may add to it.
	Shave the head, and tie the beard; and say it was
	the desire of the penitent to be so bared before his
	death: you know the course is common. If any thing
	fall to you upon this, more than thanks and good
	fortune, by the saint whom I profess, I will plead
	against it with my life.	173
Provost	Pardon me, good father; it is against my oath.
DUKE VINCENTIO	Were you sworn to the duke, or to the deputy?
Provost	To him, and to his substitutes.
DUKE VINCENTIO	You will think you have made no offence, if the duke
	avouch the justice of your dealing?
Provost	But what likelihood is in that?
DUKE VINCENTIO	Not a resemblance, but a certainty. Yet since I see
	you fearful, that neither my coat, integrity, nor
	persuasion can with ease attempt you, I will go
	further than I meant, to pluck all fears out of you.
	Look you, sir, here is the hand and seal of the
	duke: you know the character, I doubt not; and the
	signet is not strange to you.
Provost	I know them both.
DUKE VINCENTIO	The contents of this is the return of the duke: you
	shall anon over-read it at your pleasure; where you
	shall find, within these two days he will be here.
	This is a thing that Angelo knows not; for he this
	very day receives letters of strange tenor;
	perchance of the duke's death; perchance entering
	into some monastery; but, by chance, nothing of what
	is writ. Look, the unfolding star calls up the
	shepherd. Put not yourself into amazement how these
	things should be: all difficulties are but easy
	when they are known. Call your executioner, and off
	with Barnardine's head: I will give him a present
	shrift and advise him for a better place. Yet you
	are amazed; but this shall absolutely resolve you.
	Come away; it is almost clear dawn.
	Exeunt

___________

Explanatory Notes for Act 4, Scene 2

From Measure for Measure. Ed. William J. Rolfe. New York: Harper & Brothers., 1899.

6. Leave me your snatches. None of your attempts at catching me up! For me, cf. i. 2. 156 and ii. I. 114.
10. Gyves. Fetters.
12. Unpitied. "Unmerciful" (Steevens).
21. Compound. Make an agreement.
23. Estimation. Reputation.
20. Mystery. Calling, trade. Cf. Oth. p. 199.
30. A good favour you have. There is a play upon favour = face.
40. True man's. Honest man's; often opposed to thief. See Cymb. p. 182.
41. If it be too little, etc. The folios give this to "Clo.," or Pompey; but Capell, followed by most of the editors, transfers it to Abhorson. W. gives the old arrangement without comment. Clarke explains it satisfactorily thus: "Abhorson states his proof that hanging is a mystery by saying 'Every true man's apparel fits your thief,' and the clown, taking the words out of his mouth, explains them after his own fashion, and ends by saying 'So (in this way, or thus) every true man's apparel fits your thief.' Moreover, the speech is much more in character with the clown's snip-snap style of chop-logic than with Abhorson's manner, which is remarkably curt and bluff."
46. He doth oftener ask forgiveness. It was the custom for the executioner to ask forgiveness of the criminal before fulfilling his office. Cf. A. Y. L. iii. 5. 3:

"The common executioner,
Whose heart the accustom'd sight of death makes hard,
Falls not his axe upon the humbled neck
But first begs' pardon."

53. Yare. Ready, apt. Cf. A. and C. iii. 13. 130.
62. Starkly. Stiffly, as if dead; the only instance of the adverb in S. Cf. the adjective (used only of dead bodies) in i Hen, IV. v. 3. 42, R. and J. iv. I. 103, and Cymb. iv. 2. 209.
70. Curfew. S. transfers the English (and earlier Norman French) curfew bell to Vienna, as he does to Italy in R. and J. iv. 4. 4 (cf. Temp' V. I. 40).
71. They. Changed in the Coll. MS. to "There;" but the duke is expecting both Isabella and the messenger with a reprieve. Cf 80 below.
75. Stroke. The metaphor, as Johnson notes, is taken from the stroke of a pen.
78. Qualify. Abate, control. Cf. Ham. iv. 7. 114, Lear, i. 2. 176, etc.
Meal'd. "Sprinkled, defiled" (Johnson). Blackstone made it = "mingled, compounded" (Fr. meler).
80. This being so. The case being as it is; this referring, not to what immediately precedes, but to the former part of the speech.
81. Seldom when. Some print "seldom-when;" but this is unnecessary, seldom when being = "'t is seldom when" (it is seldom that) in 2 Hen. IV. iv. 4. 79.
83. Spirit. Monosyllabic; as oft'en. Gr. 463.
84. Unsisting. Explained by some as = unresting, but probably a misprint. Rowe reads "unresisting," Hanmer "unresting," and Capell "unshifting." Steevens conjectures "unlist'ning," Coll. "resisting," Sr. "unwisting," etc. W. reads "unlisting," which was proposed by Mason, and is as good an emendation as any. If unsisting means "never at rest, always opening" (the definition is due to Blackstone), the word seems out of place when the door is at rest.
90. Happily. Haply; as often in the early editions, but generally changed to haply in the modern ones when dissyllabic. See T. N, p. 158, or Gr. 42.
93. Siege. Seat (Fr. siege). Cf. its use (= rank) in Ham. iv. 7. 77: "Of the unworthiest siege;" and Oth. i. 2. 22: "men of royal siege."
95. Lordship's. The folios have "lords;" corrected by Pope. The error probably arose from the use of the contraction "Lord" for lordship. In T. of S. ind. 2. 2, the folio reads "Wilt please your Lord drink a cup of sacke?"
96. And here comes, etc. The folios give this speech to "Pro.," but it evidently belongs to the Duke, as Tyrwhitt conjectured.
105. His. Its. Gr. 217, 228.
111. Putting-on. Urging, incitement Cf. Cor. ii. 3. 260: "you ne'er had done 't . . . but by our putting on," etc.
122. What is, etc. Who is, etc. Cf. 2 Hen, IV. i. 2. 66; "What's he that goes there?" Gr. 254.
125. Nine years old. Cf. Ham. iv. 6. 15: "Ere we were two days old at sea," etc.
130. Fact. Deed, crime. See W. T. p. 175.
137. Insensible of mortality and desperately mortal. "Insensible of his being subject to death, and desperate in his incurring of death" (Clarke). Schmidt, following Johnson, makes desperately mortal destined to die without hope of salvation."
149. In the boldness of my cunning. "In the confidence of my sagacity" (Steevens).
153. In a manifested effect. "That is, so that its being manifest may be the effect or result of my exposition" (Schmidt).
158. Limited. Appointed; as in Macb. ii. 3. 56: "my limited service," etc.
165. Discover the favour. Recognize the face. Cf. 30 above.
168. Tie the beard. Tie has been changed to "dye" and "trim;" but, as Clarke remarks, it is probable that the beard was sometimes tied up out of the way of the axe, at the request of the sufferer. Sir Thomas More, when laymg his head on the block, said to the executioner: "Let me put my beard aside; that hath not committed treason."
169. Bared. Referring to the shaving of the head, and perhaps also to the tying of the beard. The first three folios have "bar'de," and the 4th "barb'd."
170. Fall to you upon this. Befall you on account of this.
181. Attempt. Tempt; as in M. of V, iv. i. 421: "I must attempt you further," etc.
183. Character. Handwriting.
192. Is writ. Hanmer reads "is here writ," which is of course what is meant.
The unfolding star. Steevens quotes Milton, Comus, 93:

"The star that bids the shepherd fold
Now the top of heaven doth hold."

196. Present shrift. Immediate absolution (after confession). Cf. R, and J. ii. 3. 56: "Riddling confession finds but riddling shrift."
197. Absolutely resolve you. "Entirely convince you" (Mason).

Measure for Measure, Act 4, Scene 3

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES.

Abbott (or Gr.), Abbott's Shakespearian Grammar (third edition).
A. S., Anglo-Saxon.
A. v.. Authorized Version of the Bible (1611).
B. and F., Beaumont and Fletcher.
B. J., Ben Jonson.
Camb. ed., "Cambridge edition" of Shakespeare, edited by Clark and Wright.
Cf. confer\ compare.
Clarke, "Cassell's Illustrated Shakespeare," edited by Charles and Mary Cowden-Clarke (London, n. d.).
Coll., Collier (second edition).
Coll. MS., Manuscript Corrections of Second Folio, edited by Collier.
D., Dyce (second edition).
H., Hudson ("Harvard" edition).
Halliwell, J. O. Halliwell (folio ed. of Shakespeare).
Id. (idem), the same.
J. H., J. Hunter's ed. M./or M. (London, 1873).
K., Knight (second edition).
Nares, Glossary, edited by Halliwell and Wright Lndon, 1859).
Prol., Prologue.
S., Shakespeare.
Schmidt, A. Schmidt's Shakespeare-Lexicon (Berlin, 1874).
Sr., Singer.
St, Staunton.
Theo., Theobald.
v., Verplanck.
W., R. Grant White.
Walker, Wm. Sidney Walker's Critical Examination of the Text of Shakespeare (London, i860).
Warb., Warburton.
Wb., Webster's Dictionary (revised quarto edition of 1879).
Wore, Worcester's Dictionary (quarto edition).

How to cite the explanatory notes:

Shakespeare, William. Measure for Measure. Ed. William J. Rolfe. New York: Harper & Brothers., 1899. Shakespeare Online. 20 Feb. 2010. (date when you accessed the information) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/measure_4_2.html >.

Related Articles

 How to Pronounce the Names in Measure for Measure
 Measure for Measure: Detailed Plot Summary
 Shakespeare on Lawyers and the Law
 Introduction to Isabella from Measure for Measure
 Introduction to Angelo from Measure for Measure
 Introduction to the Duke from Measure for Measure
 Shakespeare's Sources for Measure for Measure
 Famous Quotations from Measure for Measure
 Shakespeare Quotations (by Play and Theme)
 Quotations About William Shakespeare

 Shakespeare's Language
 Exploring the Nature of Shakespearean Comedy
 Shakespeare's Boss: The Master of Revels